


En Route

by sparkthisshit



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Bottom Richie Tozier, Gay Eddie Kaspbrak, Gay Richie Tozier, M/M, Slow Burn, Top Eddie Kaspbrak, they truckin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:40:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24136756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sparkthisshit/pseuds/sparkthisshit
Summary: Eddie needs a new job after leaving his wife and, consequently New York City. He just wants to get away, so he decides to become a trucker. However, he doesn't get the solitude he was looking for, when the company that hires him decides to pair him up with a more experienced trucker named Richie Tozier.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 2
Kudos: 26





	1. before it all

**Author's Note:**

> Haven't written fanfic in SO LONG so.... bare with me ;)

It had been two weeks since Eddie’s divorce with Myra was finalized. It was the biggest relief, and he felt better than ever. However, he was definitely lonely.

The only friends he ever had were people that he knew through Myra, and they were all on her side when it came to their sudden divorce. To be honest, Eddie could 100% see where they were coming from on that one. 

It was six months ago that Eddie snapped. Six months ago when he couldn’t lie any longer. Six months since he came to terms with his sexuality. It was all because of this guy that just started going to his gym. Eddie never even talked to him, afraid that he wouldn’t be able to control himself around him. But he watched from afar, like a creep. The man was definitely around his age, demonstrated by his deep laugh lines and crow’s feet. But he was fit, muscular in a way that wasn’t overwhelming, but was definitely enough. After looking at the guy, Eddie always wound up hard. It was embarrassing, he was like a prepubescent boy. Eddie even changed around his normal gym schedule due to the man, opting to go in at five and leave at six, instead of going in at six. The guy always came in at six. Then, instead of having to suffer for an hour, Eddie would only be able to catch a small glimpse of him before leaving. 

One of those days, Eddie was in the gym locker room (his least favorite place in the entire world) when the guy came in. Eddie had his back turned, not noticing the man’s entrance. Eddie thought he was alone. Unbeknownst to the presence of the man, Eddie took off his shirt, which was soaked with sweat from his workout. Next, he moved to his shorts, quickly pulling them off, before he reached into his gym locker. 

“Hey, man do you have deodorant I could borrow?” A voice suddenly asked. Eddie was immediately startled, turning around rapidly. He was face to face with him. It was the guy. Eddie gulped.

“Uh. I-I guess. Here.” Eddie said, reaching back into his locker to pull out his spray deodorant. He was grossed out by the roll-on ones, and opted for spray instead. He turned back around to the man, handing it to him quickly, before grabbing his pants out of his locker. He was waiting to turn back around, waiting to hear the spray of the deodorant. However, he didn’t. So, he continued to get dressed. When he was fully dressed he turned back around to see the guy still standing where he had been earlier, looking at Eddie. He had a shy smile on his face, handing the deodorant back. 

“I didn’t need it, sorry. I just wanted an excuse to talk to you.” The man responded, a faint blush ghosting his cheeks. Eddie’s jaw dropped. Was the guy… flirting with him? No way, he looked so straight! He looked like the kind of guy with a beautiful former-cheerleader wife and four identical-looking children. He did not look gay at all, but maybe that was just stereotypes fogging Eddie’s mind. Eddie knew that he was silent for an awkwardly long time, so he thought of how to respond.

“Oh, ha.” Eddie giggled, like a teenage school girl. He had absolutely no idea what to say. So, of course, the prepubescent twelve year old in him came out. He looked the man up and down. He was wearing a tank top that barely covered his broad chest, his tan skin popping out wherever it could. He also had on a part of short runner’s shorts that hugged his thighs like nothing Eddie had ever seen. Eddie sighed. Then, he realized that he just audibly sighed while obviously checking out the guy. He made panicked eye contact with the guy, who looked amused by his behavior. Eddie knew that his face must have looked so red. He quickly grabbed his gym bag.

“Well it was nice talking to you, bye!” Eddie said quickly, barely breathing. He ran out of the locker room and didn’t stop until he reached his car. He shut the door, taking a deep breath. He looked down and he was hard. Of course he was hard. He tipped his head forward, leaning it against the steering wheel. He needed to leave his wife, he realized in that moment, or else he would be leading her on. He didn’t love her. He had known that bit for a long time. But the part about him loving men? Yeah, he had just figured that one out. 

When he arrived home, he heard the TV in the living room, playing one of those evening game shows. Myra always loved to watch them. Eddie didn’t see the appeal. He closed the front door behind him, making sure to do it loudly. He didn’t want to have to go to her to say what he needed to say. 

“Eddie, hun, is that you?” Myra chirped, poking her head into the foyer’s doorway. She smiled at him. “Come watch Jeopardy with me!” 

“Myra. we need to talk.” Eddie said nervously, unable to make eye contact. When he finally did meet her eyes, Myra looked concerned. Despite this, she nodded, walking to their dining area. She took a seat at the table, nervously awaiting her husband’s words. He sat across from her, putting his gym bag down beside him on the floor. He leaned his elbows on the table, and then his face into his hands. He anxiously raked his fingers through his hair for a moment. Then, he took a breath. When he let it out, he spoke.

“Myra, I think I might be gay.” He said suddenly. Then, the words were out there. It was almost like he could see them, floating across the air, tinted by the scent of whatever Yankee Candle Myra had been burning in the living room. For a moment, Eddie wanted to cry. He was embarrassed and ashamed. Who takes forty years of life to realize that they’re gay? Who marries a woman when they’re gay? He inhaled shakily, finding it difficult to look her in the eyes once again. When he did, he immediately regretted it. Her eyes were watering, and in her expression Eddie could see one word; betrayal. 

“Eddie, you don’t mean that, do you?” Myra responded quietly. Eddie watched painfully as a tear finally fell from her eye. Eddie didn’t like to hurt people, no matter who. He especially didn’t like to hurt his wife of twelve years. Seeing her cry got him worked up, and before he knew it, his lips were quivering. 

“Myra, I’m sorry.” Eddie said, his voice cracking, “I just can't lie to myself, or you, anymore. I’m gay. That’s-that’s it. I’m gay.” He hid his face in his hands after he said it. He didn’t like for her to see him cry. He knew she wouldn’t say anything, but he also knew she would judge him. There was always judgement behind her pitiful eyes. 

“I think we should get a divorce.” Eddie continued, not raising his head from his hands. He heard Myra sniffle before standing from the table. She walked away, he could tell, hearing her retreating footsteps. He heard her dial a number on their landline. She spoke, but it was muffled, and Eddie couldn’t hear what she was saying. He finally picked his head up, sniffling as he rubbed away the tears from under his eyes. He cautiously ventured towards the living room, listening in to the parts of Myra’s conversation that he could hear.

“He told me that he’s gay, Kelly. What am I supposed to do about that? I can’t be a man for him.” Myra huffed over the phone. Kelly was Myra’s best friend. Eddie was 90% sure that Kelly had never liked him. Myra was silent for a while, likely listening to her friend’s response. 

“Could I stay with you tonight, Kell. Please?” Myra begged, sniffling again. There was a moment of silence before Myra responded.

“Thank you, Kell. You’re a lifesaver. I’ll see you soon.” Myra hung up the phone before coming towards the doorway. As she exited the living room, she made eye contact with Eddie where he had been eavesdropping in the hallway. They looked at each other, both teary-eyed and heartbroken. It was silent for a long time until Eddie spoke.

“I didn’t choose it, Myra. I didn’t have a choice.” He said. He finally let a tear slip freely, choking back a sob. Myra looked at him and, as usual, it was judgment shrouded by pity. 

“I know. It doesn’t make me feel much better, though.” Myra responded, tersely. She walked past him, going upstairs, likely to gather her things. After she left that night, she stayed with Kelly up until the divorce was finalized. Then, they dropped contact, and Eddie sold the house. He couldn’t live there alone, it just felt wrong. In fact, he didn't want to stay in the city at all. So, acting on mid-life crisis impulses, Eddie quit his job.

He had been unemployed for two weeks, and divorced for two weeks, when he decided he needed some source of income. He had a little while longer before he had to move out of his house completely, so he spent his remaining hours there scouring the internet for jobs in different places. At first he thought, maybe I’ll move to the midwest. Then, he instead thought about going to the south. He became indecisive, wildly so, before deciding he wanted to have a job where he could see every part of the country. So, he finally looked into becoming a truck driver. 

After a long application process, getting his CDL license, and getting hired by a place called Courtlan Trucking. He was in contact with a supervisor and everything. He was excited; he finally had an excuse to explore and be alone. Yes, being alone.

He had been with Myra for a whopping twenty years, proposing on their seventh anniversary, and marrying on their eighth. Therefore, he hadn’t been alone since he was twenty. The thought of loneliness used to scare him, but now, it brought him comfort. When he was alone, he didn’t have to care about what Myra was thinking, or what Myra wanted. He could just relax for once, and be calm. After the year he’d had, he felt that some solitude was much needed and much deserved. 

But then, his supervisor called. Eddie, ever the people-pleaser, picked up in record time.

“Hello Dan, what do you need?” Eddie said. Usually, Dan would be calling to make sure Eddie had emailed the company any necessary paperwork. Therefore, Eddie assumed there was another form for him to fill out.

“Nothing, Eddie. I just wanted to tell ya, there is an opportunity for you to get on the road within the next week. I know you were looking to leave the city sooner rather than later.” Dan responded. Eddie was surprised, but definitely grateful. 

“No matter what, I’ll take it! Thanks for letting me know, Dan! So, what are my stops?” Eddie asked excitedly. He heard Dan cackle through the phone. 

“Don’t get too excited over there, now. You won’t exactly be riding solo on this trip.” Dan replied. 

“What do you mean?” Eddie asked hesitantly.

“Since you’re a new driver, and this is a pretty long trip, we have one of our best guys goin’ on with you. His name is Richard, he’s been with us for a pretty long time. We just wanna make sure you know what you’re doing out there, y’know? We don’t like to overwhelm our new hires.” 

Eddie sighed. Did he want to go on a trip for an extended period of time with some strange dude? Well, he eventually decided, it was better than sitting around New York, being reminded of your divorce every second.

“I’ll do it!” Eddie replied. And that, he would come to realize, was just the beginning.


	2. chapter 2: the beginning of the journey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They are off! They get to know each other a little bit along the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait! I am unfortunately quite busy, so updates will be very sporadic and not adhere to a schedule of any sort. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy!

Eddie sat in Dan’s office and was not at all surprised to find that he was quite anxious. Of course he was nervous, he was about to meet some stranger that he was going to be stuck in a truck with for God knows how long. The rationality of it all didn’t help him, though, as displayed by his bouncing foot and clammy palms. 

“This is pretty typical of Richie,” Dan spoke suddenly, “Always late. But, he’s a good guy, so we like to keep him around.” Eddie chuckled nervously. He looked at his watch and, sure enough, the guy was five minutes late. 

He barely had a chance to look back up before the door slammed open. In the room walked a tall man, with a mop of curly, dark brown hair, and glasses. Eddie assumed the man was Richie.

“Hello Dan!” Richie bellowed as he entered the room, “Sorry for my continued streak of lateness.” 

“Not a problem, Rich.” Dan chuckled, seemingly amused by Richie’s behavior. Richie sat down next to Eddie. Eddie took a moment to survey him more closely. He wore a navy blue sweatshirt with the outline of the Statue of Liberty on it, along with a pair of loose jeans. His shoes were work boots that had definitely seen better days. When Eddie looked back to his face, Richie was returning his stare.

“So, this is the famous Eddie! Nice to meet you, man, I’ve heard a lot about you.” Richie smiled, extending a hand out to Eddie. Eddie shook his hand, taking note of his strong grip. He tried not to think too much about it. 

“Nice to meet you, too.” Eddie responded shyly. He could already tell that Richie was an outgoing guy by the way he burst into the room. That was most definitely not Eddie. Eddie tried to keep to himself most of the time, not speaking unless he was spoken to first. Therefore, Richie seemed like his polar opposite. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, Eddie thought. Maybe he needed someone to help him come out of his shell a little bit. Someone like Richie. 

“Alright, boys, let me tell you the plan.” Dan started explaining to them what their route would be for pick-up and drop-off. He explained that they would begin by going into New Jersey, and then taking interstate routes all the way down to the Carolinas. From there, it was a straight-shot West to California. 

“That’s quite the trip.” Eddie said, after Dan has finished his explanation.

“It’s nothing compared to some of the stuff I’ve been on, trust me.” Richie laughed, “Right, Dan?” 

“Hey, we pay you, don’t we?” Dan snarkily replied. The two men were clearly friendly in a way Eddie never experienced with a work colleague. All the people he used to work with socialized, but never with Eddie. He didn’t mind it, though, as he didn’t really care for those people anyway. But, as he watched Richie and Dan interact, he thought that maybe he wanted a friend like that. 

“So, that’s that gentleman. Any final remarks before I send you on your way?” Dan asked, hands clasped over his desk. 

“No, I think we’ll get to headin’! Ain’t that right, Eddie Spaghetti?” Richie said, standing up with a spring in his step.

“Uh, sure. Don’t call me that.” Eddie replied. Dan laughed at his reaction of being taken aback.

“Oh Eddie, believe me when I tell you, he just gets worse.” 

“Well that’s not very nice, Dan.” Richie pouted.

“May not be nice, but I know it to be true.” Dan replied, “Now get outta here, I got work to do.” Dan stood from his desk to give Richie a hug. Afterwards, he shook hands with Eddie. Then, they were off. Richie led the way, grabbing a set of keys and exiting the back door of the building. Outside was a parking lot full of truck tractors without any semi trailers. 

“Alright, we’re gonna take this one over here. Today, we’ll just drive for a little while before calling it a night. That sound good to you?” Richie said, nodding towards one of the truck tractors. 

“Sounds good, yeah.” 

“You wanna drive first or should I? I know you’re a rookie, so I figured I’d let you choose.” 

Eddie pondered the options before responding, “I’ll let you drive first.” 

“Sounds good to me!” Richie said, “Tell them to clear the roads!” 

Eddie laughed and started walking towards the truck. He turned around after a moment, realizing Richie hadn’t been walking alongside him. Richie was, instead, staring at Eddie and smiling. 

“What are you waiting for?” Eddie asked. Richie just smiled wider.

“I like it when you laugh, Spaghetti Man.”

Eddie groaned, “Is this gonna be a thing? Spaghetti?” 

“Absolutely!” Richie replied cheerfully, finally following Richie towards the truck. They climbed into the truck when they reached it, pulling the doors to a close behind them. Eddie looked around as he entered. This truck was nice, surprisingly spacious. Right behind the driver’s and passenger seats was a space that could definitely be used as a sleeping area. 

“These ones are nice. It’s like we can have two separate beds in here: one back there and one up here. The backrests can serve as a border to prevent any funny business.” Richie said jokingly, winking at Eddie. Richie then put the car into drive and exited the lot. Eddie could feel himself blush a little bit, which he hated. The last thing he wanted to do was develop any sort of sexual interest in the guy that he was gonna be stuck in a truck with for the next few weeks, and/or months. 

Obviously, Richie liked to be funny. He liked to tell jokes. So, Eddie reasoned with himself, he was probably flirting with Eddie as a joke. He was definitely straight. Eddie surveyed his outfit again, which stereotypically confirmed his statement. However, at the same time, Eddie knew that not all gay men are fashionable. But any proof against Richie being gay would definitely help him out. He’s straight, he thought to himself, and that’s that. 

“Sorry,” Richie suddenly started, “I don’t know if me saying that, like, weirded you out or something. I’m just fucking around, man. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable or anything.” Eddie was kind of surprised by Richie’s sudden burst of seriousness. Another thing that shocked him was how genuinely sorry Richie looked. His face was strewn with worry all of a sudden.

“Hey, man, don’t worry about it. It’s just-” Eddie stopped himself. He didn’t want to come out to Richie. He didn’t want to concern him or, worse, disgust him. “I was just a little taken aback, that’s all.” Richie looked over to him, flashing him a smile. The smile didn’t fully dismantle the worry, which still overwhelmed his features. 

“Sorry. You’ll eventually realize that I am like that 24/7 so feel free to get used to it.” Richie joked. Eddie laughed, and there was a second of silence between the two of them, before Richie spoke again. “What made you wanna start trucking?”

“Well, I realized that I hated my job-” Eddie started. 

“Well, that’ll do it.” Richie laughed.

“-and I got a divorce.” Eddie finished. They were silent once again. Eddie knew pretty much every single reaction to a person saying they got a divorce now. Some people cringe, some people apologize, and some people congratulate you. Richie was definitely a part of that first group. 

“Oh man that, uh… That sucks.” Richie said after a while, shooting Eddie a sympathetic look as he drove on. 

“No, it doesn’t. It’s great, liberating even.” Eddie assured him, “Besides, it was a long time coming.” 

“Oh. Good for you then.” Richie said. 

“Yeah,” Eddie replied, “Absolutely. How about you? What made you wanna become a trucker?” Richie thought for a minute before responding.

“Well, I didn’t really have any other option. I needed money and wanted to escape. So, trucking checked both the boxes. Been doing it since I was 21.” Richie explained. 

“Wow. Do you like it?” Eddie asked, then immediately felt stupid. Of course he likes it, he’s been doing it for 20 years. Richie chuckled at the question. He paused after.

“It gets lonely.” He responded. Eddie couldn’t think of a response that felt appropriate, so he just looked ahead at the highway, watching the white and yellow lines disappear under the wheels of the cars.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little angst (but just a little). Hope you enjoyed!

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys liked the first chapter! I hope to post as often as possible, whatever that may mean! Also, to reiterate, I haven't written fanfiction in LITERAL YEARS. Hopefully it's not too all-over-the-place. Leave comments! I love to read them :)


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